Monday, September 3, 2007

Fitz traded to Bengals

By Jim ThomasST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCHSaturday, Sep. 01 2007

The Rams were minus one quarterback Saturday morning when they took the fieldfor practice at Rams Park, and sent another packing a few hours later when theysent their final roster cuts into the NFL office.

The day began with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick traded to Cincinnati for aseventh-round draft pick in the 2008 draft. Its believed to be a conditionalpick, with Fitzpatrick needing to be on the Bengals roster a certain number ofgames in order for the Rams to receive the seventh-rounder.

Later in the day, the Rams placed No. 4 quarterback Brock Berlin on waivers.That leaves the Rams with only two quarterbacks on their active roster, agrowing trend in the NFL.

"I think there were six or seven (teams) last year (with two quarterbacks), andI think there could be more including ourselves this year," Scott Linehan said."Either way youre giving up something, so well have to have a contingencyplan for a third. Weve got a couple ex-quarterbacks on our roster. Wellfigure out what kind of plays wed have to run with those fellows."

That would be wide receivers Drew Bennett and Marques Hagans, who were bothquarterbacks in college. In the meantime, the Rams plan to sign Berlin to thepractice squad if he clears waivers by Sunday afternoon.

The Rams made several other moves to get down to Saturday afternoons rosterlimit of 53 players. Offensive lineman Todd Steussie, who underwent surgery fora broken foot Friday, has been placed on the injured reserve list, ending hisseason. Cornerback Fakhir Browns four-game suspension for violating the NFL substance abuse policy began Saturday afternoon, meaning he does not count against the 53-man roster.

As of late Saturday afternoon, the Rams had not confirmed those cuts or made an announcement on released players.

The biggest surprise in the group was Alston, a third-round pick in 2006, whoalthough raw and unpolished, had seemed to make substantial progress over thecourse of training camp and the preseason. But it appears that rookie freeagent Quinton Culberson has won Alstons roster spot. Fry (fifth round),Stanley (seventh round), and Jackson (seventh round) were 07 draft picks.

Even with Saturdays roster moves, there could be more moves forthcoming beforethe roster settles in. The Rams still have nine defensive linemen -- one morethan usual -- with ends Trevor Johnson and Eric Moore both on the roster as ofSaturday afternoon. The release of Vinnett left them with only eight defensivebacks -- one fewer than usual.

In addition, all four tight ends -- Dominique Byrd, Joe Klopfenstein, RandyMcMichael, and Aaron Walker -- remained on the roster as did fullback Madison Hedgecock.